ITALIAN WINE EXPORTED TO THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE WORLD: FROM THE U.S. TO RUSSIA AND FROM HONG KONG TO THE BALTIC STATES, EVENTS & WINERIES ON TOUR. FOCUS: “MADE IN ITALY” WINE PURCHASED MORE ABROAD THAN AT HOME

Domestic consumption of wine is down, so exports are a must for Italian wineries. Wine companies as well as the Ismea-AcNielsen survey, analyzed by the Association of Italian Farmers, Coldiretti, revealed: in 2010, Italy exported 21.5 million hectoliters of wine in the world, more than what was consumed domestically (21 million). The data on exports are all positive (+14% in volume and +13% in value during the first 6 months of 2011) and it is estimated that by the end of the year, it will exceed 4 billion euros in value. Data on the Italian market instead, talk about a slow and inexorable decline in consumption (we are now at 43 liters per person per year).

 Success in exports however, is not just chance: quality, distinctive product features and the appropriate price relationship are the basic conditions, as well as marketing promotion. Recently, Italian wine has been and will be in the four corners of the world. After having traveled to the U.S. and Russia in October, the wineries are attacking the Asian markets with Vinitaly Tour (www.vinitalytour.com), where Italy will be the “partner country” of the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair (www.hktdc.com) from November 3rd to 5th, the most important fair on the Asian continent with more than 200 participating wineries. It is a landmark event not only for the “local” market where Italy earned $20 million dollars in 2010 (a 45% increase compared to 2009) but also to conquer China; the country that according to Wine & Spirit Research will reach 3 billion bottles consumed by 2016 and will, in 20 years, become the first wine market in the world. Meanwhile, in the U.S., where Italy is leader in value and volume, 70 wineries and the “Grandi Marchi” (premium brands) - the 19 companies are: Argiolas, Biondi Santi, Michele Chiarlo, Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari, Gaja, Pio Cesare, San Guido Estate, Ca’del Bosco, Umani Ronchi, Carpenè Malvolti, Lungarotti, Masi, Mastroberardino, Alois Lagender, Rivera, Jermann, Donnafugata, Marchesi Antinori, Tasca d’Almerita - led by Piero Antinori, with “Simply Italian Great Wines”, went to Chicago, San Francisco and Las Vegas from October 24th to 27th.
But even the “illuminated” regions are moving with their excellent wines: ERSA, the Agency for Rural Development in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region presented the legendary “Friuliano” in London with the UK magazine “Decanter” (and they are ready to leave for Stockholm on November 7th to “attack” the off the beaten track, but surprising, Scandinavian markets). The Vine Wine Institute of Sicily (www.vitevino.it) after the Vinitaly Tour, has been cultivating the Russian market (54 million euros during the first 6 months of 2011, compared to 44 million euros in 2010). At the “Wine Expo” in Moscow they displayed the quality and variety of their wine production, a real ”wine-continent”. Exports can be conquered also by presenting excellent products to the world through friends close to home: for instance, “Verona Grand Tasting” (www.operawine.it), the first tasting organized in Italy directly by “Wine Spectator” the most influential magazine in the world. And, VeronaFiere, which on March 24th, with 100 of the most important Italian producers, will be the prologue of Vinitaly (March 25-28, 2012), the largest wine fair in the world.


Focus – “Made in Italy” purchased more abroad than in Italy
Italian wine is bought more abroad than in Italy, reveals Coldiretti’s analysis of the Ismea AcNielsen survey, which shows that in 2010, 21.5 million hectoliters of wine were exported compared to the domestic consumption of 21 million hectoliters. This historic overtake - underlines Coldiretti - was consolidated in 2011 because household spending was down 1% in quantity while exports were up by as much as 16% in the first half of 2011. The sharp decline in quantity of wine purchased was accompanied by an increased attention to quality - said Coldiretti - confirmed by the weak 1% increase in purchases in the first 8 months of 2011. This trend – says Coldiretti - has led to an almost 50% decrease of wine consumption in Italy over the last 30 years. In 2010, Italian families spent more on mineral water than wine: 19.71 euros per month per family to buy mineral water, making it the first expense item on household budgets for drinks while wine is estimated at an average 12 euros per month. Along with dietary changes, the decline, especially in restaurants, is due to excessive mark-ups, temperance campaigns and strict road rules that have indiscriminately affected wine, which is actually a more responsible way of drinking as it is combined with meals and has nothing to do with weekend “binge drinking”. Wine - continues Coldiretti - has become the expression of a “slow” lifestyle, attentive to the psychophysical balance that helps you feel good about yourself, in contrast with abusive alcohol drinking. 
 We must be aware of and recognize this change in habits – says Coldiretti – and at the same time invest in prevention by promoting knowledge of wine and its relationship with the territory and culture, starting with the younger generations. At production level, the 2011 vintage was - concluded Coldiretti - the smallest in the last 60 years, with a total production around 40.3 million hectoliters, down 14% compared to 2010, but 60% of the harvest was for our 511 DOCG, DOC or TGI awarded wines.

Focus - Italy wine sets up “outposts” in China
There will be ten “Italian wine only” operations in China within 2011 and the goal is to reach 100. Enoteca Italiana will select the wines, manage relationships with the producers and spread knowledge about Italian wines from its Chinese Yishang Wine Business Consulting offices.
The agreement signed by the importer-distributor Beijing Zhengyuan Youshi and the Italian agency is an important initiative in a wine market that is also growing culturally. The Chinese are now not only looking at the “top” Bordeaux but also the $20 range in which Italy has a lot to say. “In China,” said the President of Enoteca Italiana, Claudio Galletti, “we expect to see a 36.4% increase in consumption of red wines by 2012, and a 38% increase in the whites. The future of Italian wine is beyond the Great Wall”.